Fresh Sweet Potato Spring Rolls
Cool rice paper rolls packed with roasted sweet potato matchsticks, red cabbage, avocado and a lot of fresh herbs, with a peanut lime sauce for dipping. Fresh, never fried.
Servings 10 rolls
Ingredients
For the Rolls
- 1 large sweet potato about 1 pound, peeled and cut into ¼-inch matchsticks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 10 sheets round rice paper wrappers 22cm, plus extras for practice
- 2 cups red cabbage shredded fine
- 1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
- ½ English cucumber seeded and cut into matchsticks
- 1 ripe avocado sliced thin
- ½ cup cilantro leaves packed
- ½ cup mint leaves packed
- 3 scallions cut into 3-inch lengths
For the Peanut Lime Sauce
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter not chunky
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice fresh
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- 1 small clove garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon sriracha or to taste
- 3 tablespoons warm water up to 5, to thin
Instructions
Roast the Sweet Potato
- Heat the oven to 425F. Toss the sweet potato matchsticks with the olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin until evenly coated.
- Spread them on a sheet pan with space between them and roast 18 to 22 minutes, turning once, until tender with browned edges but still holding their shape.
- Cool completely before rolling. Warm filling softens the wrapper from the inside.
Make the Peanut Lime Sauce
- Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, ginger, garlic and sriracha together. It will seize into a stiff paste at first.
- Add the warm water one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each, until the sauce pours off the whisk in a ribbon that settles back in about three seconds. Taste and add more lime if needed.
Roll the Spring Rolls
- Prep every vegetable and herb before you start rolling, and line them up in the order you will use them. Pat the cucumber and cabbage dry.
- Fill a wide shallow dish with warm water, not hot. Dampen your cutting board with a wet hand.
- Dip one rice paper sheet for 2 to 3 seconds, turning it once, and lift it out while it is still slightly stiff. Lay it flat on the damp board and let it finish softening there.
- Lay two mint leaves and a scallion length face down on the lower third of the sheet. Whatever goes down first is what shows through the finished roll.
- Build a 2-inch log across the lower third: cabbage, carrot, cucumber, a row of sweet potato matchsticks, two slices of avocado and a pinch of cilantro. Leave 2 inches clear at the bottom and 1 ½ inches at each side.
- Fold the bottom edge up over the filling, then pull it back toward you to tighten the log. Fold both sides in and roll away from you in one continuous motion, keeping tension the whole way. The rice paper seals to itself.
- Set each roll on a plate without letting it touch the others and cover with a damp towel. Repeat with the remaining sheets.
- To serve, halve each roll on a sharp bias in one stroke and serve with the peanut lime sauce.
Notes
- Two to three seconds in the water: the sheet should still feel slightly stiff when it leaves the dish. It keeps softening on the board and a floppy wrapper is a torn wrapper.
- One sheet at a time: wet rice paper welds to itself instantly.
- Matchsticks, not cubes: a matchstick runs the length of the roll and will not punch a corner through the wrapper.
- Cold filling only: roast the sweet potato ahead and chill it.
- Do not stack the finished rolls: they fuse together and tear apart.
- No canned sweet potatoes in syrup: too wet and too sweet, and they flood the roll.
- Storage: best within 2 hours at room temperature under a damp towel, up to 24 hours in the fridge wrapped individually. Never freeze.